Stephen Ward

[tricky_colour]

Brighton could well be in a play off place by the end of the season.
Of the teams place 3 to 8th their current form is second best so their
promotion odds of 7-1 see pretty good, however much of that is due
to teams above them going through a period of poor form, which may
only be temporary for them, so 7-1 may be fair odds after all, depends
on how you see it.

Also worth noting Brighton had the joint lowest goals conceded so those
who question Wards defensive abilities may have some explaining to do!!!

[Charlie Darwin]

Ward set Brighton on their way to a thumping 4-1 win over promoted side Leicester to keep his side in the hunt for a play-off spot. He also provided the assist for the second, while Keith Andrews set up the third.

[BonnieShels]

No matter what he does... We still have Poznan. And it still hurts.

[paul_oshea]

Was down in Brighton a couple of weekends ago, telling them all I knew about Brighton and Hove Albion and all the Irish players. It lasted about 5 seconds and even then much of it was wrong.

They love wardie though. As they said themselves, they don't have to worry too much about the defensive side of things in this league...

[Stuttgart88]

Yep, my BHA supporting mate says Ward has been great. They love him.

[tricky_colour]

I think there are about 9 teams in with a chance of play off spot, that is almost half the league!!

[DeLorean]

Just scored a massive goal to put Brighton into playoff positions, as things stand. 1-1 at the City Ground with Reading losing to Burnley.

[Stuttgart88]

I was just searching for the Stephen Ward thread. You beat me to it!

[DeLorean]

Wow! Short lived... An absolute cracker of an equaliser for Reading to move Brighton back out.

[Stuttgart88]

But Reading's stunning equaliser puts them into the last spot at Brighton's expense, with 30 mins to go.

Randolph's Birmingham on the way down as things stand.

[Charlie Darwin]

Our Stephen will just have to score another one to make sure. I reckon Burnley will still do Reading, though.

[Stuttgart88]

Reading well on top.

Hey Chuck, sounds like a mental game at Tallaght. I was tracking on extratime.ie. It flashed up that Rovers missed another pen on 96 minutes. It took 2 more minutes to update that the rebound had been nodded in!

[Stuttgart88]

Football. Bloody hell.

[DeLorean]

Brighton!!

[geysir]

Forrest defending for that cross was just spaced out atrocious, ah well, can't complain, yet another good day's work for our Wardy..

[Charlie Darwin]

Reading well on top.

Hey Chuck, sounds like a mental game at Tallaght. I was tracking on extratime.ie. It flashed up that Rovers missed another pen on 96 minutes. It took 2 more minutes to update that the rebound had been nodded in!
Yeah, it was ridiculous. Eight minutes added on and the physio was only on the pitch once, as dfx pointed out in another thread. Rovers were shocking and the penalties were atrocious.

[CraftyToePoke]

It took 2 more minutes to update that the rebound had been nodded in!

Two minutes is nothing, that's practically German efficiency compared to the nervous breakdown that site usually has on 85 mins every week.

[Charlie Darwin]

Just saw Ward's goal now on the Football League Show. Lovely control on his chest and a sweet finish from 10 yards.

[tricky_colour]

It was pretty crazy today regarding promotion and relegation, teams were going up
and down by the minute. In League One I though Notts Country were safe as both teams below
them needed to win and they needed to lose, but that was the case at one point however
an Alan Sheehan (Irish) penalty got them a point ( which they turned out not to need as other
results changed).

Here is the peno, remember they were down at this point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH8yaDMhZ5s

Some problems with the image stabilisation there!!

[CraftyToePoke]

He hit it confidently didn't he ? I mean it was taken like a spot kick to complete a hat trick in a dead rubber game. Fair play to him.

[Charlie Darwin]

Call him up Trap?

[tricky_colour]

He hit it confidently didn't he ? I mean it was taken like a spot kick to complete a hat trick in a dead rubber game. Fair play to him.

He is "a free-kick specialist" according to wikipedia, so probably pretty confident with penalties.

Some time back here when discussing penalties I described what I though was the ideal penalty
and his was almost exactly that. I think I said take it like a corner and aim about 4 feet below the
bar and 4 feet inside the post, or rather no so much aim but just kick it so you know it will go
there ( the ball usually goes higher), but you like aim about 40 yards away, that kind helps
keep the ball low.
It's almost impossible to stop even if the keeper gets a hand to it, which I think he might have
but it's hard to see at that pace.
The only danger is putting it over the bar which is why I advise shaping up to it it a long way,
which helps keep it from going too high.
He is 27 btw.

[tricky_colour]

Call him up Trap?

As I just said he is only 27, he has never played a full international.
He has played in the Championship.

[Stuttgart88]

Sky Soccer Saturday's reporter said Sheehan dispatched the penalty with great conviction under pressure. He was very complimentary.

[tetsujin1979]

another view on the penalty: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWhfcPe-NbE&t=64

[gastric]

Ward seems to have a lot of possible opportunities, Sunderland would be the best move, career wise!

http://www.expressandstar.com/sport/wolverhampton-wanderers-fc/2014/05/26/stephen-ward-is-edging-closer-to-wolves-exit/

[gastric]

Brighton showing some interest in signing him on a permanent basis, his wages seem to be the issue. Jackett confirms he has no future at Wolves.

http://www.theargus.co.uk/sport/11376964._/

[paul_oshea]

Jackett knows his stuff.

[Charlie Darwin]

His stuff being that Ward's wages are high? Hardly surprising being the manager.

[gastric]

Burnley interested as are Brighton and a fee has been agreed with the Clarets. Complete shock if it happens.

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/burnley_fc/news/11411421._/?ref=mac

[Charlie Darwin]

Not sure why it would be a shock. He did well at Brighton last year, helping them to the play-offs, so a move to a promoted side is hardly a step too far.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

If this move happens, and I refuse to get my hopes up, there may be a reason to take an interest in teams that aren't Hull, Stoke and Everton, thanks to this and the high-profile Shane Long move.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

http://www.burnleyfootballclub.com/news/article/stephen-ward-signs-on-150814-1831004.aspx

Burnley welcome Ward.

[Colbert Report]

Very strange move. Burnley are desperate for central midfielders and central defenders, but now sign a third-choice left back instead. Ben Mee will be their starter, with Daniel Lafferty deputising for him. Perhaps Ward will get a chance to play on the wing? He's very slow and possibly the worst Irish international I've ever seen play.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

I would imagine that Mee moves to centre-half alongside Shackell and Ward starts left-back. Duff wasn't good enough to start in the PL several years ago and now he is 36. The real strange decision may have been to give Daniel Lafferty a contract extension.

[Charlie Darwin]

If he's the worst Irish international you've ever seen then I suspect you haven't watched many games. He is not very slow and he will start ahead of Mee and Lafferty.

[gastric]

Interesting analysis of Ward versus Ben Mee his competition for the left back position at Burnley.

http://eplindex.com/58416/ward-mee-analysis-burnleys-leftbacks.html

[Charlie Darwin]

Gets his first league start after Burnley's defence was demolished at West Brom last week.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Starting in central midfield due to an injury crisis.

[Charlie Darwin]

Central midfield? Weird.

[SwanVsDalton]

He played occasionally at centre mid for Wolves didn't he? Think he's played everywhere except centre-half, down the right and goalie at this point.

[Charlie Darwin]

He played centre forward and off the striker for a few months at Wolves in the Premier League, but I'm not sure if he played in centre midfield.

Quote from the local paper during his time at Wolves:


Ward has now played left-back, left midfield, centre midfield, striker and as a 'sitter', while he has also operated at wide right a couple of times in games to become something of a 1990s Andy Thompson in his four years at Molineux.

[SwanVsDalton]

He played centre forward and off the striker for a few months at Wolves in the Premier League, but I'm not sure if he played in centre midfield.

Quote from the local paper during his time at Wolves:

I'm pretty sure I remember him playing there, if only because I noted it as another string to his positional bow. Think it was an injury crisis at Wolves too.

Something similar from this link (http://oswestryandborderchronicle.com/sport/wolverhampton-wanderers-fc/2010/12/14/stephen-ward-set-to-start-the-derby/) as well.


Ward has played left-back, centre midfield and striker in the last three games.

[Charlie Darwin]

I wouldn't have thought his positional sense was good enough for the centre, but he has the technical ability.

[SwanVsDalton]

His positional sense is no good because he never knows what position he's playing. :)

[tricky_colour]

I have always maintained a good player should be able to play almost anywhere on the park.
He could be the new Glenn Whelan.

[tricky_colour]

Just got it on a stream, first mention of Ward was ".....Ward, but given away..." however he had a nice run through the midfield soon after.

[tricky_colour]

Burnley went 1 down but then got one back, then went 1 down again straight after.
Ward had some touches in the build up, sort of anyway :)

[tricky_colour]

Last minute free makes it 2-2.
So a good result for Burnley, can't say I saw Ward make a massive contribution but
then I can't say I saw much of match at all, listened to bits of it but didn't hear too
much mention of Ward.
He will probably get a 6-7 rating on sky sport I guess.

[tricky_colour]

He was joint top user rated(7.5) player on Sky Sports along with the last minute free kick scorer.
However the Sky rating was only 6 alongside a couple of 8'.